In recent years it has become a popular cultural practice to clip plants and transplants during their early growing periods. Essentially, this entails periodic cuttings. Typically a small top portion of the plant is clipped. Generally the clipped portion would be approximately one-half of the leaf height above the buds. In a typical clipping operation this would entail cutting approximately one-inch of the top portion of the plant.
It has been found that periodic clipping, as described above, promotes plant uniformity which is so important in growing transplants such as tobacco and other vegetables. In addition, periodic clipping toughen the plant without inducing stress. That obviously makes the plants more valuable inasmuch as they are better able to withstand the stresses of transplanting.
There is one major drawback to the practice of plant clipping. That drawback is that the practice is very time consuming and requires much labor which translates into substantial expense. Typically today a plant clipping operation employs a stationary cutting device that is fed by a conveyor. Workers will remove plant trays from the greenhouse and transport them to the conveyor and stationary clipping apparatus. Each plant tray is placed on the conveyor and run through the stationary clipper and then returned to its original location in the greenhouse where it is once again placed on its support within the greenhouse. For a greenhouse that is approximately 35 feet by 300 feet, a clipping operation would take eight people eight hours. This same clipping operation is repeated weekly. Thus, it is easily seen why plant growers have been reluctant to adopt and use this valuable cultural practice. The expense and the difficulty of getting labor in the first place has seriously deterred plant growers from making use of the most valuable cultural practice.
Therefore, there has been and continues to be a need for an automated plant clipping system that will reduce the labor requirements and the overall expense of a plant clipping operation.